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Well I pulled my garden today.Had a good year with my tomatoes even though we had a very dry summer.I turned everything over as I had straw mulch over the old part of my garden.I expanded my garden 6 feet out and 12 feet across.Now I have around 200sq.ft.I went to my local feed store and bought my cover crop.75% winter rye and 25% hariy vetch.I just need to get a friends tiller and make a few passes so I can can rake the seed in.Glad I have this done as I'm getting my other knee replacement 2 weeks from tomorrow.I had my right knee done Mach 18th of this year.Now I can get back to normal with my cycling and gardening next spring.

No cottonseed meal this year? I pulled out a lot of my tomatoes due to a variety of reasons and got a couple of my garden boxes already planted in hairy vetch and started a third one Sunday. And the compost gets added to it weekly and I will have a large amount of water hyacinth from my pond biofilters to add to it as well. Always good to prepare for next year.

George

__________________"There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."

Well I pulled my garden today.Had a good year with my tomatoes even though we had a very dry summer.I turned everything over as I had straw mulch over the old part of my garden.I expanded my garden 6 feet out and 12 feet across.Now I have around 200sq.ft.I went to my local feed store and bought my cover crop.75% winter rye and 25% hariy vetch.I just need to get a friends tiller and make a few passes so I can can rake the seed in.Glad I have this done as I'm getting my other knee replacement 2 weeks from tomorrow.I had my right knee done Mach 18th of this year.Now I can get back to normal with my cycling and gardening next spring.

Good luck to you CJP! I'll be praying for you. I had my right hip done 2 Decembers ago and I am fully back in the garden. Amazing procedures!

I used up the cotton seed meal this spring.I'll have to get more come spring.I have been also using Garden Tone a couple times during the growing season.Only issue I had this year was my tomatoes all had cracked skins.I think that was due to the very dry weather we had.I heard many growers had that problem around this part of the state this summer.Thanks for the very kind thoughts,I also had a hip replaced in 2012.My knee was bone on bone,much more rehab with knee.But I'm pain free in the hip and right knee now.Modern surgery is truly amazing!

Well my friend's son was going to come over and make a pass with his tiller but never called.So I turned it over with my garden fork.It did not come out perfectly smooth but it will do.I hand tossed the seed as I always have done in the past.Should see the rye come up in as little as 48 hrs.Hairy Vetch comes up a little later.Watered well,so another season done.Glad it's over but I do enjoy hand turning it.My back will let me know that I'm 63 later tonight,lol.

How tall will the rye/hv get? Die out over winter? How much time between turning it under in spring and planting your tomatoes?

I don't know how well it will work, but our local ACE had 1/2 lb Southern States bean and pea seeds on clearance last winter. When I bought them for planting they were on clearance - then they dropped them to 10 cents. I bought more, gave some away to family and friends, and thought I would try them as a cover crop since they fix nitrogen, etc.

Winter rye(cereal) gets 3 or 4 feet but you cut it down around April and then it's only 6 or 8 inches tall.Adds mass to the soil,vetch adds nitrogen to the soil.Both will winter over and start growing when temps reach in the 40's.I just mow it down and plant into it.You also turn it under a few weeks before planting.

Thanks CJP - I'll add this to my routine. The Virginia Coop Extension says both will grow well here as cover crops with winter rye being very hardy. I can wait till late October to plant it in the Tidewater area of VA.